Curtiss Anderson, Hearst Magazines editor, dies

Curtiss Anderson, a prominent Hearst Magazines editor and entrepreneur in the magazine industry, died Saturday at his home in Tiburon after a long illness. He was 81 years old.

He joined Hearst Magazines in the early 1980s as head of the division's development unit, working under the direction of John Mack Carter, and was magazine development editor for Hearst Magazines when he retired in 1994 and moved to Tiburon.

"His was the first voice that new magazines need," Carter recalled. "He came to New York with his eyes wide open."

Gil Maurer, a fellow Hearst executive, recalled that Mr. Anderson "was instrumental in creating the editorial methodology that enabled the magazine group to get new product probes into the marketplace quickly and at low cost. The highly successful Country Living was one of those titles."

"Curt was enormously helpful," Hearst said Monday. "He brought a magazine sensibility to our traditional news operation. He had a truly amazing eye for talent. He was always pushing us not just to think about new approaches - but to get them into print."

Mr. Anderson grew up in Minneapolis and spent summers at a lake in northern Minnesota, an experience that inspired his memoir, "Blueberry Summers" (2008), a nostalgic reminiscence of Norwegian American family life and summers on the lake. At his death, he was working on a sequel, "Blueberry Winters."

Mr. Anderson was a journalism graduate of the University of Minnesota and served for two years in the U.S. Navy.

In addition to "Blueberry Summers," Mr. Anderson collaborated with Joyce C. Hall, the founder of Hallmark Cards, in a biography of Hall, "When You Care Enough."

Mr. Anderson is survived by his wife, Anne Sonopol Anderson, a former editor at Better Homes and Gardens and former editor of House Beautiful. He also is survived by his brother, Robert.